1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to wall mounted picture hangers and, more specifically, to wall a mounted picture hanger with a height adjustable hook.
2. Related Art
Wall mounted adjustable picture and mirror hangers are old. Generally, such hangers can be divided between those that have one unit fixed to the wall and a second unit fixed to the back of the picture and those that have a first unit fixed to the wall and a second adjustable unit movably mounted on the first unit. In the first type of hangers, the second unit travels on and is supported by the first unit, see for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,432,206; 2,569,622; 2,943,831; 2,975,994; 3,285,549; 4,228,982; 5,878,987; 6,032,915; and 6,095,479. In the second type of picture hanger, the second unit has a hook from which the picture hangs by means of wire conventionally attached to the back of the picture. This second type of hanger is exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,182,702; 4,892,284; and 6,003,825.
The second type of picture hanger is preferable over the first type because most pictures are mounted in frame and have wire attached to the back of the frame for hanging the picture from the wall. Thus, only one step is necessary to employ the hanger, i.e. attach the hanger to the wall.
There is a need for a simple height adjustable picture hanger which is easy to attach to the wall and has a hook which is adjustable in height and from which a picture can be conventionally hung by means of wire.
A height adjustable picture hanger has now been discovered that is easy to attach to the wall and has a vertically adjustable hook. The present invention is employed for both pictures and mirrors which have a wire, hole or hook on the back to which the hook of the present invention is attached.
It has been discovered that a simple height adjustable picture hanger can be made by employing two opposed vertical oriented crenelated tracks which are affixed to the wall in conjunction with two biased, crenelated cars which travel in the crenelated tracks. The cars are housed in a frame which keeps the cars horizontally aligned with each other and allows for horizontal movement of the cars. A hook is attached to the frame. The hook attaches to the wire, hole, or hook of the picture. The frame moves vertically with the cars while maintaining the horizontal alignment of the cars in the tracks. The frame also prevents the cars from falling forward out of the tracks.
By moving the cars in the tracks, the hook moves vertically, thereby providing height adjustment for the picture or mirror. The use of a crenelate track with crenelate cars housed in a frame provide stability to the picture hanger.
Broadly, the present invention is a height adjustable picture hanger comprising: two opposed, vertically oriented, crenelated tracks which are affixed to the wall; two opposed spring biased cars positioned between the tracks, each car has a crenelated surface that mates with one of the crenelated tracks, the cars being movable along the tracks; a frame positioned between said tracks, housing said cars and movable therewith; and a hook attached to said frame and movable therewith.
The term xe2x80x9ccrenelatedxe2x80x9d as used herein means a straight surface with evenly spaced and dimensioned teeth. The tracks have a plurality of such teeth while each car has at least one and preferably two, three or four teeth.
Preferably, stability is provided to the present invention by employing a back plate which is affixable to the wall and on which the tracks are mounted. The back plate provides stability to the tracks as well as the overall hanger.
The frame which houses the cars can take the form of a block or a plate hereinafter referred to as a traveling block or a traveling plate.
In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the hanger employs a back plate which is attachable to a wall; a channel which is vertically oriented and centrally located in the back plate, both ends of the channel being closed; a rod which is centrally located in said channel and extended between both ends of the channel; and a traveling block which is positioned in the channel and having a hole therethrough in which the rod passes, the block is vertically movable on said rod. The block is the frame and is attached to the hook and houses the cars while the tracks are attached to the back plate and positioned on either side of the channel.
In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the hanger employs a back plate which is attached to the wall and on which the tracks are mounted, the tracks are spaced away from the back plate thereby providing a space therebetween; and a traveling plate attached to the hook, houses the cars and extends into the space between the tracks and back plate.
The traveling block provides stability in combination with a vertically oriented rod. The rod is attached to the back plate and the traveling block is affixed to and movable along the rod through a hole within the traveling block. Thus, the cars cannot be removed from the picture hanger by the weight of a picture or mirror.
The traveling plate provides stability since it is positioned between the back plate and the crenelated tracks. When such an arrangement is utilized, the weight of a picture or mirror cannot disengage the cars from the picture hanger, since the cars are interconnected to the traveling plate, and the traveling plate always remains between the back plate and the crenelated tracks.
Preferably, the back plate of the picture hanger of the present invention has one or more holes through which a screw can pass so as to affix the hanger to the wall. If one single hole is used, it is suitably positioned half-way across the back plate in the upper half of the back plate so as to affix the picture hanger evenly (horizontally level) to the wall. Alternatively, when the back plate is not present, the crenelated tracks can be directly attached to the wall by screws passing through holes in the crenelated tracks.
Preferably, the picture hanger of the present invention has four holes positioned around the back plate through which a screw can pass so as to affix the hanger to the wall.
More preferably, the picture hanger of the present invention has a bubble gauge. The bubble gauge affixes to the back plate and allows the user to insure that the hanger is horizontally level.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is a wall mounted picture hanger having a height adjustable hook which comprises: a back plate attachable to a wall; a channel is vertically oriented and centrally located in the back plate, both ends of the channel are closed; a rod is centrally located in the channel and extends between both ends of the channel; two opposed, vertically oriented, crenelated tracks are mounted on the back plate on either side of the channel; a traveling block is positioned in the channel and has a hole therethrough in which said rod passes, said block is vertically movable on said rod; two spring biased cars are housed in the block and positioned between the crenelated tracks, each of the cars having a crenelated surface which mates with one of the crenelated tracks; and a hook is affixed to the block for hanging a picture therefrom.
In another preferred embodiment, the wall mounted picture hanger of the present invention comprises: a back plate attachable to a wall; two opposed, vertically oriented, crenelated tracks mounted on said back plate and spaced away from said back plate so as to create a space between said back plate and said tracks; a traveling plate positioned between said crenelated tracks and extending into the space between said back plate and said tracks and vertically movable therein; two, spring biased cars housed in said traveling plate and positioned between said crenelated tracks, each of said cars having a crenelated surface which mates with one of said crenelated tracks; and a hook affixed to said traveling plate for hanging a picture therefrom.
These and other aspects of the present invention may be more fully understood by reference to the following drawings and the detailed description of the invention.